Forever Gone
by articwolfgirl347
Summary: Konan has a unique family, consisting of her and her two best friends. Yahiko's death, from her point of view.


Konan considered herself to be a warrior, first and foremost. Ever since she and her two companions had met and trained under the Sage, becoming a living weapon had been the most important aspect of her life. She could blow up, behead, or bludgeon any opponent to death. All it would take was a single command from her leader, and she could do it. Survival was the most important part of their lives, and always would be.

But she was nineteen now. Battle was common, but no longer fearsome. Konan glanced at her two friends, the only ones she could call family in the world. Yahiko was snoring loudly, bright hair poking out from his sleeping bag. He alternated from snoring to heavy breathing, depending on his dreams. She allowed herself a small smile. Yahiko was the outgoing one, flashing wide grins and a trusting heart to others. He was also the first to jump into danger for anyone, and for that, he was respected. For that, he was the leader of their group.

Her other companion sighed. Her eyes flickered to him, face hidden by a curtain of red hair. He was always awake long into the nights, and Yahiko didn't always make it easy for either of them to fall asleep.

At a first glance, Nagato was the opposite of Yahiko. Quiet, secretive, and cunning, his smiles were more like hers, small and rare. Despite the differences, however, Nagato's skills complemented Yahiko's almost perfectly. When the two worked together, even Konan had a hard time finding an opening in their defense.

They were everything to her. After her family had been ripped away, murdered by the enemy, she had been left as just another orphan on the streets. Insignificant and unimportant. Then Yahiko had shown up, spouting nonsense about changing the world, and she had joined him. Less than a month later, Nagato hopped on board. All three were orphans, and all three were family, albeit a unique one.

But when it came to stronger feelings- the word _love _was just callous- which one was the best match for her? They couldn't live like this forever, and even if Yahiko's miraculous changes came to pass, she would only ever be capable of trusting the two of them. Who would she choose? She wouldn't dare exclude one of them. They'd become outcasts once already; she couldn't bear to inflict that pain on either of them again because of her choice.

No one said she had to choose today, though. She shook off the heavy mood and inched over in her sleeping bag, ending up between Nagato and Yahiko. "Hey." Nagato turned to look at her.

"Hey." His voice was soft but rich, as it always was. She leaned her head against him.

"Our resident grizzly bear is asleep." Nagato snorted, and gave a small grin. She had a small smile, now, too. She only made sarcastic comments when the three of them were isolated, because that was the only time she felt safe enough to make them.

"Can't sleep?" She nodded, and he sighed. "Me neither."

"What are you worried about?"

"Everything." Konan's expression softened at his explanation. That was Nagato; always trying to plan for the unexpected. If she were Yahiko, she would say something reassuring, like everything would be okay.

But she wasn't, so she only pulled his sleeping bag to hers. She was safe, sandwiched between her best friends. Hopefully the touch would comfort Nagato as well. She forced her body to relax, and fell asleep to Yahiko's heavy breathing.

It was raining. That was fitting, since everything important had always happened when it rained. It had rained when her family died, it rained when she met Yahiko, and it rained when they encountered the Sage.

She had been stripped of her daggers and other weapons, her hands were bound, and her life force had been drained from her. Normally, she could feel its hum just underneath her skin, but when she felt for it now, she discovered that it had vanished completely.

Konan shivered as she watched two forms running forward rapidly, using their life force to propel them forward faster. They stopped several feet away, Nagato with a dagger held defensively in front of him. Yahiko's eyes met hers, and she tried to plead with him. His eyes turned to the men who held her, and she trained her eyes onto Nagato's next. Nagato was watching her, and understood her message better than Yahiko. The red head gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Her shoulders drooped in defeat, but her eyes burned with anger.

How _dare_ he? She had been weak, walking into a trap and lacking the strength to free herself from it. She should die for her mistake. Nagato had to live because he had power greater than any other, and Yahiko because the masses would gather to him and create an army. She wasn't necessary for their dreams to succeed.

"How kind of you to show up," the scarred man crooned. If only she had even a single spark of life force, Konan could have blown him to bits. Even if she died in the explosion, too, it would be better than facing this.

"You, red head," he addressed Nagato. "Kill your leader, or the girl dies." Nagato froze instantly, and Konan cursed herself. She should have died with her parents, years ago. Nagato's entire body trembled.

Her eyes flickered to Yahiko, and she knew what would happen before it did. Because _that_ was Yahiko, beautiful and brilliant and fiercely protective of her and Nagato. Yahiko's eyes met hers, and a smile flickered across his face.

Yahiko threw himself upon Nagato's dagger. It ran through him, a shiny red tip protruding from his stomach. He lurched and coughed up blood.

And then three became two.

**I wrote this for a contest, but then realized that it was supposed to be an ORIGINAL work when I looked at the details. Why it was not mentioned sooner, I know not. The requirements were that it had to be less than 1,200 words long, and had to deal with a love triangle. I am, however, very disappointed. Still, I figured that it might as well be of some use, so I posted it onto fanfiction. Hope you enjoyed it. Obviously, I do NOT own any of these characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. **


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